Whale Arts Agency

Wester Hailes Arts for Leisure and Education

0131 458 3267

Updated response to COVID-19: 25th March 2020

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We care deeply about our participants, team, our membership and the community we serve in Wester Hailes and beyond. Due to the new rules to stop the spread of Coronavirus we are continuing to take a range of measures and would ask everyone to have a read of these and pass on the message to anyone who you think might need to know.

WHALE Arts Centre

The building remains closed to the public and all our art groups continue to be postponed until further notice. There are a small number of WHALE Arts and SCOREscotland team members in the building with resources focused on providing food and support for those who need it in Wester Hailes.

Focus on Food Provision

Our Friday Community Meal has been replaced with a Community Takeaway – this will be cooked by our chef Paul and packaged up for locals to takeaway and eat at home. This will be from 1:00pm – 2:00pm each Friday at WHALE Arts. Please come to the Performance Space doors – there will be signage if you don’t know the way. We have queueing measures in place to help with social distancing to keep everyone safe.

And although the WHALE Arts building will be closed to the public the Community Fridge managed by SCOREscotland will continue to operate on reduced days – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday between 10:00am – 1:00pm. If you would like to use the Community Fridge please contact SCOREscotland on 0131 442 2341 or 07496 190 916.

Wester Hailes Together

We are communicating on a daily basis with a group of local community organisations, voluntary groups and support agencies in Wester Hailes and we are working together to support the residents of Wester Hailes during this time of uncertainty due to the Coronavirus. This will happen in a range of different ways, focusing first on food provision, essential items, and connecting and checking in with people online, and over the phone. Our support will follow the UK and Scottish Government’s most recent guidance on social distancing. We will use the Digital Sentinel to communicate weekly the most up to date provision available in Wester Hailes.

If you provide a service in Wester Hailes and you would like it included in the weekly update on local provision please email Craig on digitalsentinel@whalearts.co.uk who will include your provision or service in the Wester Hailes Together Weekly Update on http://www.digitalsentinel.net/

Let Us Know If You Need Help

Please get in touch with the WHALE Arts team if you need support or a conversation on 0131 458 3267 or by emailing info@whalearts.co.uk or by SMS text to 07926 613472.

Our response to Covid-19

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We care deeply about our participants, team, our membership and the community we serve in Wester Hailes and beyond. Because the current public health situation with Coronavirus is a serious challenge to all of us, we have decided to take a series of measures which are listed below and would ask everyone to have a read of these and pass on the message to anyone who you think might need to know.

WHALE Arts Classes, Group and Activities

From tomorrow (Wednesday 18th March) we will be adapting our services to temporarily limit face-to-face contact. Activities will not take part in the WHALE Arts building. The only services that will take part will be food provision – please see more details below.

WHALE Arts groups will be cancelled until Monday 4th May. We will be reviewing this policy as new guidance is made available.

We will revisit this towards the end of April based on up to date Scottish Government guidance and make a decision about the continuation of activities into May and beyond.

We will communicate any changes clearly with all participants, artists, partners and funders.

The WHALE Arts groups that are cancelled until 4th May are:

Stitch n Time

smARTcraft

Men’s Making

Let’s Create

Street Arts

Let’s Dance

Play Sense Create

Film Club

smARTies

NuStart

Mums into Business

Wester Hailes Connects Digital Skills Drop-ins

Members Breakfasts

Community Gardening

As our building will not be open our programmes delivered with partners will also be postponed:

Room for Art – with Art in Healthcare

Fork in the Road – Edinburgh Tool Library

Expecting Something – with Starcatchers

Open Book

Indian dance – Theiya Arts

Edinburgh Art Festival – art trips and schools groups

Activities related to our Creative Placemaking project will also be postponed between 18 March – 4 May. There will be a separate communication about this.

Our Easter Holiday Programme will also be cancelled, as will our Puppet Animation Festival shows and workshops.

Together with our team of freelance artists we will be developing a range of creative tutorials, fun ideas and exercise challenges for people of all ages to do at home. We will be disseminating these via our website, social media, email and by post. We are also looking at making up art material packs for people to collect, or which we may post out to people. And we are also thinking of some creative and fun ways to keep people connected over the next few weeks, using a range of platforms, but taking into consideration that many of our participants are not digitally connected.

Food Provision

Although the WHALE Arts building will be closed to the public the Community Fridge managed by SCOREscotland will continue to operate on reduced days – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. If you would like to use the Community Fridge please contact SCOREscotland on 0131 442 2341 or 07496 190 916.

Our Friday Community Meal will be replaced with a Community Takeaway – this will be cooked by our chef Paul and packaged up for locals to takeaway and eat at home. This will be from 1:00pm – 2:00pm each Friday at WHALE Arts. Please come to the Performance Space doors – there will be signage if you don’t know the way. We will have measures in place to help with keeping everyone safe.

Room Bookings

We will be in touch with organisations and people individually regarding room bookings which have been booked in over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, please stay safe and look after each other – if there is anything that you feel WHALE Arts could be doing or you would like to contribute to our thinking about how to act in the future, please do get in touch.

info@whalearts.co.uk

0131 4583267

Vacancy: Finance Board Member

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WHALE Arts Agency, a thriving place-based and building-based cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes, is seeking to identify a new member of its Board of Directors with a background in accounting or financial management to support the organisation develop and deliver future aspirations in support of the Strategic Plan.  

Our Mission: We create the conditions for our community in Wester Hailes to work alongside artists and cultural practitioners to become agents for change who will proactively co-design, participate in, support or lead quality creative activity at all stages of their lives.

Our Vision: Wester Hailes is a creative, thriving, resilient, fair community.

WHALE Arts 5-year Strategic Plan can be viewed here: https://issuu.com/whalearts/docs/strategic_plan_whale_2019_-_2024__web_version_

Our current Board members have expertise and experience at a senior level in marketing, education, arts and culture.  Expertise and experience of financial management and financial good governance are seen as a core capability required to augment and compliment the current Board experience and this vacancy has arisen as Lorraine Johnston who has provided the accounting oversight and insight has recently stepped down after almost 7 years’ service.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone wishing to experience a role at Board level while providing financial acumen, support and oversight to the other Board members and support a vibrant arts organisation.  Ideally the candidate would be a qualified accountant however candidates with equivalent experience and proven track record in financial management, or equivalent, would be considered.  The successful candidate must be able to position and explain accounting and financial data in a way that the non-accountant board members would understand. The organisation has accounting, payroll management and management accounting & reporting in place at an operational level and it is not expected that the Board member be involved in the day to day accounting and control activities.

We invite expressions of interest from suitably experienced individuals.  Previous experience of board membership, and a genuine interest in the transformative power of the art are essential. Candidates must be prepared to contribute their professional knowledge, strong business contacts, and a firm commitment to actively promoting and supporting WHALE Arts Agency at a National level.

Board meetings are held every 6 weeks, in WHALE’s purpose built building in Wester Hailes. In addition, the board member with financial expertise provides support and advice to the executive team as required and supports the executive team in managing the relationship with the organisations appointed external examiners.

This is a voluntary role and WHALE’S Board Members are highly valued for the vital role they fulfil in providing professional guidance and financial governance for our thriving organisation. The Board, like the organisation, is friendly and informal and maintains the highest possible standards in its duties of governance and oversight of the business.

Expressions of interest, in the form of a CV outlining relevant experience and a statement explaining the applicant’s interest in joining the board should be made by email to info@whalearts.co.uk  by Friday 14th February 2020. We will be in touch after the 14th February to arrange a meeting with suitable candidates.

Candidates are free to informally discuss the position with the current Chair, Michelle Herron (michelle@enhancepeople.co.uk) / Mobile 07900 228170 as required.

WHALE ARTS wins prestigious Creative Regeneration award

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Community-led arts charity WHALE Arts won top prize at SURF Awards 2019 for Best Practice in Creative Regeneration on 5 December at Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel.

WHALE Arts was announced winner of the Best Practice in Creative Regeneration at SURF Awards 2019 for its long-term and innovative approach. Founded by local community members in 1992 WHALE Arts centre offers a range of ongoing art activities, events and creative opportunities available to the South West Edinburgh community which impressed SURF judges.

The SURF Awards are delivered each year by SURF, a regeneration forum with over 300 cross-sector member organisations across Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government. The purpose is to highlight, celebrate and share the achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland.

Representatives of the five category winning initiatives for 2019 were personally congratulated on their inspiring work by the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Communities, Aileen Campbell MSP.

Aileen Campbell MSP, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Communities said:

These awards are a great platform for recognising and showcasing successful community regeneration. With each passing year the exceptional standard of applications and shortlisted projects is even higher. This year’s shortlist demonstrates what is possible when communities are empowered to work hard, meet challenges and develop projects to shape their own futures.

SURF judges noted the scale of individual and collective partnerships launched and developed over time and the five winning projects all demonstrate the value of a long-term approach to regeneration. Long-running activities and events at WHALE Arts include Street Arts for youth, smARTies art club for children and smARTcraft for adults with additional support needs.

Leah Black, Chief Executive of WHALE Arts, said:

We are honoured to receive this award. We will continue to work alongside our wonderful community in Wester Hailes to become creative agents for change. It is an exciting time working with local partners, City of Edinburgh Council and The Scottish Government on what might be the first Local Place Plan in Scotland, focusing on Wester Hailes and driving creative regeneration.

Chief Architect for the Scottish Government, Ian Gilzean, is currently in residency at WHALE Arts to explore how an arts centre can inform and drive creative regeneration.  A new Wester Hailes Place Plan is currently under development.

Ian Gilzean, Chief Architect for the Scottish Government said:

Congratulations to WHALE Arts on their well-deserved award, WHALE Arts has been a fantastic base for facilitating the Wester Hailes Local Place Plan while on secondment working for City of Edinburgh Council. It’s been great to work with the wider local community, including partners of WHALE Arts such as Wester Hailes Community Trust and Prospect Housing, to develop creative regeneration possibilities.

WHALE Arts is a social enterprise and charity launched in 1992 as Wester Hailes’ community centre for Arts, Leisure and Education. In 2000 the WHALE Arts centre opened and includes an arts workshop, performance space, community kitchen, creché and board room that local community groups and organisations use. Local artist practitioners support and lead art programmes with partner organisations including Edinburgh Art Festival and local residents in Wester Hailes.

 

For more information about current projects at WHALE Arts contact: info@whalearts.co.uk or visit http://www.whalearts.co.uk

Help Shape the Future of Wester Hailes

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Are you a local resident of Wester Hailes?

You can help shape the future of Wester Hailes in a drop-in event to help inform and develop a Local Place Plan at the Westside Plaza Shopping Centre. Join us on Friday 29 November 11am – 5pm and Saturday 30 November 10am – 4pm.

The Local Place Plan has been led by local residents over the past few months. The event will be an opportunity to hear about the plans and feed in ideas for the upgrading of the Westside Plaza. In January 2020 works will start on resurfacing, creating green spaces, a play area and much more.

The ideas were developed for this by the Wester Hailes Community Trust and local partner organisations including WHALE.

For more information contact westerhailesplaceplan@gmail.com or call 0131 458 3267.

WHALE Arts is …

... the cultural anchor organisation for Wester Hailes. We are a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, set up by local people in 1992. Our mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community.

WHALE Arts

30 Westburn Grove,
Edinburgh,
EH14 2SA
0131 458 3267
info@whalearts.co.uk

Latest News

Updated response to COVID-19: 25th March 2020

We care deeply about our participants, team, our membership and the community we serve in Wester Hailes and beyond. Due to the new rules to stop the spread of Coronavirus we are continuing to take a range of measures and would ask everyone to have a read of these and pass on the message to […]

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